Apparatus for measuring and feeding plastic substances



Oct. 16, 1928. 1,687,694

w. E. PRESCOTT APPARATUSFOR'MEASURING AND FEEDING PLASTIC SUBSTANCES Fiied April 26, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 1" Oct. 16, 1928. 1,687,694

W. E. PRESCOTT APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND FEEDING PLASTIC SUBSTANCES Filed April 26, 1923 A 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 16,1928. 6 1,687,694

v W. E. PRESCOTT APPAR ATUS FOR MEASURING AND FEEDING PLASTIC SUBSTANCES Filed April 26, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3 6 6 II v Patented Oct. '16, 192a.

UNITED stares PATENT 01 5105 WILLIAM EDWARD rnnseorr, or LONDON, ENGLAND, Assrenon TO BAKER-PERKINS COMPANY, mo, or WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND FEEDING PLASTIC SUBSTANCES.

Application filed April 26, ieaaserial No.

single or separated chocolate bars, it isequally applicable to a variety of. uses where definite or measured quantities of plastic material are required to be forced or fed for delivery into mouldsor otherwise. The invention is, however, hereinafter described as an example for the moulding of chocolate bars as aforesaid The primary feature of the invention. con-- sists in means adapted to both measure and feed a quantity of plastic material (herein after referred to as chocolate) suflicient to fill or charge to the required extent a single mould,'and this is performed by means of a pair of toothed, fluted or corrugated wheels or rolls located in a container for the chocolate, and the teeth, flutes'orcorrugations of which are of such shape as to feed or propel a constant or uniform quantity of the chocolate incproportion to their angular movement. [The teeth of said rollers closely intermesh, for example along a horizontal line passing through their axes, and certainof said teeth bear closely against the base of the. container in which the rollers are mounted. The required amount of chocolate is fed from the container through a-discharge aperture, by rotating the rollers through a given angle, which is determined by the capacity of the mould to be filledor charged, or in other words, the quantity of chocolate to be delivered to the mould.

The rollers are geared together and one of same is a positively rotated interrupted gear, variable drive apparatus or, any other appropriate device capable of the necessary adjustment to vary the degree of revolution according to the quantity of chocolate to be fed at each movement. V q u The discharge aperture ofthe container may be provided with a die, nozzle or equivalent with which may be associated a cutoff valve, or other means for stopping the flow of chocolate to the mould after the rolls have stopped.

A pair of rollers as above described is 634,886, and in Great BritainMay s, 1922.

used for each mould, that is to say, for production of single bars of chocolate,,but as in practice multiple moulds would usually be used, each containing a number of nould sections each for the production of a separate bar, it may be necessary to separate each 'pair of rollers from that adjacent thereto in the container so that each pair may acton a separate quantity of chocolate, and for this purpose where necessary a con venient method is to provide in the container a number of partition plates arranged between the pairs of rollers, said plates being; suitably attachedto the discharge die which is removably applied to the container and said plates being so shaped as to lit the axlesof the rollers or slots formedtherein so as to properly provide for each pair of vrollers a measuring and forcing chamber individual thereto. The die and partition plates can thus be inserted and removed as a unit or the said division plates may be fitted to .the container and in this case only the die would be removable.

As an alternative or in the production of single bars only, separate containers may be used each containing and having closely fitting therein but a single pair of rollers arranged as above described and with suitable discharge aperture die and cut-off arrangements. I r An embodiment of the invention given an example is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in, which 1 is a side elevation oi the machine.

Fig; 2 is an endelevation of same with partsin section.

Fig, 3 is a vertical section of the container and one pair of measuring and feeding rollers.

Fig, 4 is a sectional detail view on the line a l-,of Fig.1.

The machine illustrated is one for the lendin of chocolate bars in which the moulds are moved, along on aconvcyor a passing over a table or ease c carried by side frames a, the conveyor being intermittently new pass the moulds in succession below he chocolate container 79, (see more particularly Fig. This conta ner as shown at Z1 is jaclretedfor receptionof a tempering; medium such as hot water which conveyed to the jaclrctjfrom any suitable source as by means of a pipe I)". The base of the container-is doubly curved or conby a rod as hereinafter explained.

caved as at and between these curved surfaces is provided with an outlet or nozzle 0.

adapted to be opened and closed by a per-J forated slide 0 carried by a plate 0 operated The said plate 0 is held in position by a clamping bar 0 pivoted at c and secured by wing bolt 0 n such a manner that when necessary all said parts can be readily removed'for cleaning, replacement or substitution.

' The container 5 is suitably made in two parts, as shown the upper part being hinged at d and secured in operative position by bolts (Z but capable of being swung about its pivot into the position shown in broken lines in Fig.1 in which position it is supported by abar d (of which there may be one at each side of the container) which in turn is supported at its lower end inan angle bracket or rest d lVithin the hopper are mounted a number of co-actingpairs of measuring and feed ing rollers e and from 2 it will be seen that therollers are arranged in gangs each on a drum mounted on a shaft 6 there being provided between each roller of a gang a groove 6 into which fits a partition plate 6 which may extend for a suitable height for instance up to the axes of the rollers or to the top of the lower part of the container. There is thus provided a number of separate chambers at thebase of the container in which operate a pair of intermeshing rollers, and from Fig. 3 it willoe seen that the teeth of said rollers are of relatively large dimensions, and closely intermesh whilst two of the teeth at each side of the axis of the outlet a bear closely against the respective curved surface at the base of the container. The teeth are so des gned that they will propel or feed a constant or uniform quantity of chocolate at all points oftheir contour and the rollers are intermittently rotated as by means to be hereinafter described through varying angles orextents according" to the quantity to be fed through the outlet/c and die plate 0 ccording to the quantity. to be fed to each mould or mould section, the sup ply being cut off by the slide 0 between each filling operation. The chocolate is agitated and forced between the rollers by a paddle 72 carried by arms 7L and operated lever 72 and rod 7L the latter receiving motion as hereinafter explained.

The mechanism by which the various moving parts are operated is immaterial and may be of any appropriate character but suitable means for the purposes in view are illustrated in the drawings as follows The conveyor chains a are carried by sprockets f f and tensioned as by a roller 7 carried by arm 7. Intermittent movement is imparted to the conveyor from the main drive. shaft 9 by gears g g through cam on shaft 9 adjustable leverandlink system g g and pawl and ratchet feed device 9 This mechanismfiis substantially. known and is located at each side of the machine, one for tlieordinary fed of the conveyor and the other for the skip between the moulds.

The extreme positions of the mechanism of. which there is one at each side of the machine, are shown in Fig.1 in full and mainly broken lines respectively. The

, measuring and feeding rollers 6 receive 1n' termittent rotation from the shaft g by means of crank i rod 2' ad ustable link and rod system 2' oscillatory disk 2 loose on shaft 2' and carrying apawl '5 which engages a ratchet wheel 2' L 1 as the ratchet wheel is a pinion with WlllCil .meshes a spur wheel jfast on the shaft 11 on which is also a gear y' '1nesl ing with another gear j which in turn meshes with apinion j on the shaft of one gang of rollers and WlllCl'l is geared to anotherpinion on the shaft of the other gang. The rollers are thus intermittently rotated for extents determined by the adjustable link Upon rotationof theshaft 9 (Fig. 1) theo'scilcrank 2', rod 2' and adjustable link and rod system 4?, i lsgiven a counter clockwise movementg A pawlz' and ratchet 77, both thenext counter clockwise movement of the disc.

The out 01f slide 0 is reciprocated in proper time relation with the chain by means of a cam on shaft 91 this cam operating a lever system 70 to which is pivoted a rod 0 connected to said slide. The bell crank is under the action of a spring 70 tending to maintain" it in" contact with thecam.

The paddle or agitating device 7b is rocked through rod 72, the lower end of which is connected to an arm 92?, mounted onthe same shaftas the adjustable link i so that it is moved in synchronism' with the rotation of the feed rollers e. v

There is alsoshown at'the delivery end of the web a discharge device comprisingtwo rollers Z oneat each side carrying a shaft extending across-the chain conveyor or table and mounted in side arms Z This device isoscillated so that loose pawls Z ride up over the filled moulds one direction and On the same shaft later disc 2' loose on the shaft i through force them from the rear (when oscillated in the opposite direction) to discharge the moulds from the chain and table onto a table a or other receiving member. The oscillating movement. is produced by a lever Z rod Z crank disc Z train of interrupted gears Z Z and spur wheel Z the latter driven by chain Z from shaft 9 What- I claim as my invention and de sire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a machine of the character described for depositing quantities of mate-- rial into molds or the like, the combination of a receptacle for the material, feeding rollers within the receptacle for discharging material therefrom into the molds, intermeshing gears exteriorly of the receptacle for driving the feeding rollers, a gear train for operating the feeding rollers drive gears, pawl and ratchet mechanism for operating the gear train, a freely oscillating disc carrying said pawl and ratchet mechanism and in one direction of movement causing direct. operation of certain of gears of the train and in the opposite direction permitting relative overriding of said gears, and adjustable'link connections for operating the disc and through the same the pawl and ratchet mechanism to vary the angular movement of the feeding rollers, said feeding rollers having teeth so shaped that in the course of rotation of the rollers engagement between said rollers is always confined to a single tooth of one of the rollers contacting with a portion of the circumference of the other roller. I

2. An apparatus for measuring and feeding plastic substance in divided streams comprising in combination a container, a

pair of rotatable rollers in said container,

said rollers having intermeshing teeth and a plurality of circumferential grooves intersaid base plate whereby to divide the feed space into several compartments each having its separate discharge nozzle.

In witness whereof I have signedthis specification.

WILLIAM EDWARD PRESCOTT. 

